


The Life We Have Together

by Charlie9646



Series: Life As We Know It [3]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Gay Male Character, Light Bondage, M/M, Medication, Mental Illness, Mentions of mpreg no actual, Nightmares, Not LGBT friendly wizarding world, PTSD, Severus Snape Lives, Sex, adult characters, all of age, happiness, not married
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-29
Updated: 2019-09-29
Packaged: 2020-10-29 13:33:25
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,670
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20797430
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Charlie9646/pseuds/Charlie9646
Summary: Severus and Hermione have been together for eighteen years. They are not married and do not plan to get married. This is an odd thing in the wizarding world, some people wish they could be them, some think they are crazy, and some wonder if it affected their kids.Alan Severus and Rose Eileen are going into their last year of Hogwarts. They may be twins, in some ways they are as different as they could be, but they are also quite similar.





	The Life We Have Together

Severus Snape and Hermione Granger have been together for eighteen years. They had two children together, he worked in muggle relations in the ministry, and she was a unspeakable. They were not married and they had no interest in ever getting married. It was not because they did not love each other, it was not because they were not happy together, they simply did not feel that is what right for them. 

In the Victorian like the wizarding world, it blew a lot of people’s minds. The idea that a couple could ”date” for nearly two decades boggled their minds. Hermione that he was ”the love of her life”, and Severus called her his ”life partner”. They did not care that it boggled people’s minds. They weren't living for the rest of the wizarding world, they were living for the life they have created, one with children, each other, the cat that Rose insisted on getting when she was six and the dog Alan insisted he had to take home days later. 

Severus did not like animals unless he was chopping them up for potions. He thought back to the day he gave in to both his children when it came to animals, thinking Hermione was the reason it happened though. But, Rose loved the faded tortoiseshell cat named Empress, and Alan loved the brown dog he named Salazar. Which caused his dad to laugh and say to Hermione ”that one is going to be a Slytherin, I just know it.”

Hermione laughed and added ”well Rose, is going to be a Gryffindor if I am correct. She Is willing to anything once, or at least try to”.

He lifted his wine glass at dinner and smiled ”then just like her mother, then”.

Hermione smiled and added,” just like Alan is just like his father. Which I think is a wonderful thing.”

***************

The children were headed off to Hogwarts, neither was pleased at the idea. Which was quite odd to their parents. They lay in bed the morning of taking them to the train station.

Hermione’s head rested on his chest, she asked ”why do think they don't want to go? I remember wanting nothing more than to go. What about you Severus?”

Severus kissed her wild hair, a habit of his from the start of their relationship. ”I think neither of us can understand their lack of joy at the very idea of going off to Hogwarts. Because I did not have a happy childhood, and you because you had a lonely one. Our children have grown up with a sibling their age, someone always around. Someone who is experiencing similar at the same time as them, but most of all it has to do with the I believe strongly that they fear they are going to be put in separate houses.

And that they will miss us. Hermione, the fact they will miss us so much means we have done a good job. And the separation, they will survive it. They are extremely close nothing is ever going to break the bond Alan and Rose share.” 

Hermione said,” I agree with you, and I do not think Harry’s and my stories about being the same house helped matters”. She got out of bed and stretched. She then started getting ready for the day. Dressing quickly, and trying to tie back her wild hair. 

He did the same. And he added ” I have tried to keep the stories from my own childhood, relatively happy. When they are older I will be more truthful with them. But, even the hints that I have given may have given them the impression that to be in separate houses will ruin the closeness they share.”

Hermione says ”but you and Lily were not siblings, your parents were horrid at best, we are not that I don't think, and Lily Evans was a bit spoiled, if I do say myself”.

Severus crossed his arms over his chest and raised a single eyebrow. ”Indeed, looking back, possibly. She was not a bad person, she just had a normal childhood and I did not. It's not her fault any more than it was mine.”

She grinned up at him as she put on her shoes, ”I think our children are far too stubborn to let separate houses ruin their relationship.”

Severus sat on their bed and laughed:” who did they get that from?”

She answered,” if you ask Harry and Ginny both of us”.

He laughs as they step out of their bedroom ”there is truth to that”.

***************

Severus and Hermione stood waiting for the Hogwarts express to pull into the station. Their children’s first year was over. She was dressed in an odd mishmash of muggle and wizarding clothes. A green muggle jumper, a pair of jeans, boots and her husband’s wool cloak she was borrowing. It was unseasonably cold this summer.

Severus was in a wool coat, a black button-down shirt, a pair of slacks and boots. She reached for his hand and leaned her head on his shoulder. Draco waved to them, shockingly over the years they had become friends with him and Astoria. Harry jogged to them, with Ginny on his heels. 

”How's it been, guys?” he said to them.

”We got some new stuff in at work I am working on,” said Hermione.

Severus nodded and said ”good”.

Ginny said ”it must be hard for the twins to be in different houses”. 

The former professor spoke ”I actually think it's a good thing, actually, allowing them to be their own people. Rose is quite happy and plans to try out for seeker next year. Alan is close to Scorpius and Al, I am sure you know they have become quite close to him over the course of the year.”

Albus Regulus Potter was something that Severus had never expected he would see a Slytherin Potter. James was likely rolling in his grave at the very thought. Just because he had mostly gotten over the things from childhood, didn't me he couldn't enjoy that the first none-Gryffindor Potter in the last hundred years. And the boy was also quite good at potions.

Hermione could not help herself she looked over at Ron and Lavender. They seemed happy. It's not that she would change one thing, she loved Severus more than life itself, but she saw the couple at most a few times a year. Her and Severus avoided them without thinking about it, just as they did all the Weasleys besides Ginny, but it seemed the other man who was part of the golden trio was avoiding her by choice.

Whatever, it did not matter. Not one damn bit. The steam engine pulled into the station and within minutes the station was filled with children. 

She watched as Willow Weasley ran to her parents. Gryffindor just like both of her parents. She had to be one of the first off the train. Her hair was a shocking mess of red waves.

James and Al came barreling at the Potters, Scorpius looked like a younger version of his father, his eyes, however, were blue like his grandmother. Then her own son ran into her like a ton of bricks hitting her. He was tall like his father, lanky and thin. His black hair was slightly oily. But his red tear-stained face, and brimming with tears black eyes, but what shocked her the most was as he cried into her ”I hate Willow Weasley and James Potter.”

Rose patted her brother on the back. Her hair was a medium brown, wild curls we're tangled as always. Her brown eyes filled with anger the same as her twin brother's eyes were filled with tears. 

Severus’s fist clenched the anger he showed as a professor clamoring to come out. He spit out ”What did they say to you?”

”That my dad is a death eater who killed Dumbledore, and I am just like you. That I was going to help bring back the dark lord, along with Scorpius.”

Rose added ”they were so mean to him, Al and Scor. They tended not to say things like that to me but hinted that mum that you cheated on dad. That I am just a Weasley, and that I am a bastard. Well that we both are.”

Severus stalked over to James Sirius and said curtly ”apologize, to your brother, Scorpius, and my children. Now. Or I will fire call the headmistress, the moment I get home and I will do everything within my power to make sure you never play Quidditch ever again. The same goes for the young Ms. Weasley if she ever says such things to my daughter again. Pass that along to your niece Mr and Mrs. Potter.”

James Sirius looked shocked and rather scared ”it was just a prank, Mr. Snape, we didn't mean anything by it.”

Severus snarled ”well let me tell you a non-joke young Mr. Potter. You think your potion’s professor is hard on you? You don't know the meaning of hard classes. Mr. Potter, I am neither a pleasant teacher or someone who would make it easy for you to become an aurror like your father; if you ever say anything like that again to anyone, again, I may take Minerva’s offer to teach again.

And you Mr. Potter I will call on every single time you are in my class. I will make your life unpleasant for my own sheer amusement. It would do your best to remember that before you dare say things like that to other children.”

James had heard stories about what Severus Snape was like as a teacher, so he said to the gather parents and the other child he had been unkind to ”I am sorry, and I will never say such things again.” 

Severus couldn't help but smirk. There was no such offer for him to teach again, only a fool would ever suggest such a thing. He knew he was a horrid teacher and beyond that, he hated teaching, nearly as much as he hated being headmaster, as much as his family loved him they even knew it was a bad idea for him to teach.

No Hermione who loved him would suggest no such thing. Not even his children who adored him. The only children he enjoyed teaching we're his own, and sometimes even that was pushing it.

*************

Severus was sitting at his desk looking over documents from work. It seemed that someone else in the department of muggle relations had suggested that they should introduce Muggleborns and their parents to the wizarding world sooner. He strongly supported the idea. It would help them understand the world they would be joining, how it worked, and what Hogwarts would he like.

He thought back to Lily, and how better she adapted to the magical world because they had been friends. He thought of how Hermione and even Harry seemed so out of place because they lacked the understanding those who even grew up on the edge of the magical world had. He was going to support the bill, and even write letters to see if they would help it pass. He was also going to ask the same of Hermione and Harry.

An owl tapped on his window and another followed right behind it. Salazar’s head popped up, the dog was now wide awake and he let out a small woof.

”quiet, Sal” Severus muttered. He opened the window and both owls landed on his desk. Each had two letters tied to their legs. There was one for Hermione and one for him from each of their children. 

Severus was proud of Alan and Rose for the same and also different reasons. They were thirteen now. They both struggled and had strengths in various areas. Alan was a Slytherin. The boy was quiet, soft-spoken, ambitious, he could be snarky when the situation called for it. But, he tended to not lash out even when pushed. He had control of himself, that it took his father decades to achieve. He was good in potions, defense against the darks, and spell work. Hermione and he strongly discouraged stepping a single toe into the dark arts.

His son would never truly be able to escape his farther’s past. Alan Severus would always be Severus Tobias’s son and that meant even an interest in the theory of dark magic could make him suspect. The mark on his old man’s arm was so faded you could barely even tell where it had once been, if you didn't know what to look for.

But the world had not forgotten that he was once a death eater. And unfortunately for Alan’s sake, sins of the father were sins of the son. His children should not bear the cross he nailed himself to, and yet they did. 

Rose Eileen, would have made her grandmother proud beside the fact that she was a Gryffindor, that is. She was stubborn, headstrong, the try it once type of girl, for the sake of simply trying it. She was an avid reader, surely spending all the time she wasn't on the Quidditch pitch, in classes or sleeping in the library.

She was good at Charms, she excelled in transfigurations, she was a natural with potions. However, while their son was soft-spoken, Rose was loud. She liked the attention, she liked to be the center of it. So unlike both her parents. She looked like a mixture of him, Hermione, his mother, and Hermione’s father Mark. 

His children were not exactly like their parents, but they did not grow up in an abusive/neglectful home. Nor, did they grow up with a war hanging over their heads or even people trying to kill them. No, their children were not exactly like their parents because they unlike their parents had normal happy childhoods. 

Even if the wizarding world insisted that couldn't be the case because their parents were not married. Merlin sometimes Severus wished they could leave the country, but as Hermione put it ”England was their home. Hogwarts was they wanted to send their children. And the grass was always greener until you reached the other side of the fence”. 

He read Rose’s letter first. She was enjoying her classes, James was a toerag, and Harry was helping them become better Quidditch players a few weekends a month. And Willow Weasley send a blugger at her head at practice. He would send an owl to Minerva about that once Hermione got home. It seems Ms. Weasley was the female version of James Potter.

He groaned, he might need to go to Hogwarts for the next game. Minerva wouldn't let him help with it, but maybe him being in the stands would dissuade the beater from trying to harm the seeker on her own team. 

Severus opens Alan’s letter. Potion’s class is going well, he knows more than the defense against the dark arts professor, James is an ass, he still hates flying no matter how much his sister tries to get him to like it, Al says hello and his son is gay and likes Scorpius Malfoy. 

And he hopes they will not disown him for this. He hopes his father doesn't hate him. He hasn't told anyone not even Scorpius. People pick on him because of it. He tries to avoid the showers when other boys are in them because he's worried. 

Severus is found by Hermione a few minutes later. He's not crying, but he's so darn close. 

”What’s wrong?” she asked.

”Our son thinks we are going to hate him because he's gay. He's worried about the other boys finding out.” Severus says into his hands.

Hermione rubs his back tenderly ”well we are both going to write him letters, we both are going to tell him how much we love him. We will go visit them this Saturday, we as a family will sit down and talk this over. We will make it clear to Alan, that we still love him. That there is nothing wrong with him. That the world is an unkind place, but he will always be welcome in this home, and he a family that loves him. And if Rose says anything different she will have us to contend with. Don't you agree?”

He nods and stands up. Kissing her forehead saying “how did I get so lucky?”

She laughs and hugs him “you didn’t Sev I did. I was the one who noticed it was you that night in London. The great Severus Snape alive and living as a muggle.”

Severus kisses her cheek and whispers in her ear “Hermione I am the lucky one. I am lucky that all of the nights I needed to pick up something at the drug store and you saw me. You saved me that night. Not my body, but my heart and soul.”

She tucks his hair behind his ears “Severus I was just as bad off as you were. I think we saved each other that night. Now come on dinner is waiting for on the stove and I have letters from our children to read. Come Sal your dinner is ready too.” At the word dinner, the dog wakes from a sound sleep and trots along with them, as they leave Severus’s office. Owls sitting on the perch in the corner waiting on letters which will be written together after dinner.

*************

Severus wakes from a nightmare to the sounds of his own screams of ”don’t touch him, don't you dare touch him, NOT MY SON!”

Hermione is kissing his clenched face and whispering into his ear ”its okay love, it's okay, it's not real. Come back to me Sev, it's not real. I promise. I swear it. It's not real.”

His black eyes fly open, and he groans out ”it feels real. It feels as real as anything ever has. I can smell his flesh burning as he marks our son. I can hear his screams. My baby, our baby, for a week I have dreamed every night that he's forcing my son to take on my greatest mistake. He begs me to make it stop. To take him away from there. And, yet I cannot move from where I stand. I can not make him stop doing it to Alan, all I can do is scream as he does it. It would be better to relive my own marking, at least then inside of it I would know it's just a memory, just a nightmare. And I wouldn't have to listen to my son be hurt by a monster.”

She kisses his forehead and goes to retrieve his potion. Hermione finds it easily in the dark just as she has done every single time he has a nightmare, just as he does when she has one. She grips the vial tightly in her small hand. Wishing she could take his pain, just as he wishes he could take hers.

Severus sits up against his pillows, takes and drinks down the vial of potion she hands him. Shuttering at the very taste of it. He lays the empty container on his nightstand and lays back on their bed. Hermione joins him again in bed. Her silk nightgown brushing against his skin.

He pulls her into his arms, trying to remind himself what is real and what is not. Hermione and him have been together for fourteen years, Alan and Rose are their children they are at Hogwarts, he worked in muggle relations at the ministry, the dark lord had been dead for nearly twenty years, they were friends with Harry, Ginny, Draco and Astoria. He regularly had tea with Minerva. He and Narcissa were working on a surprise for Hermione. He was happy. He was safe. His son was not going to be marked. His life partner was not going to be killed by that monster. He was living a life he never imagined he would have. 

Hermione brushed his hair out of his face and whispered into his ear “I love you and you are safe.” She kisses him, his hands are on her hips, he lays her back, she hooks her leg around his hips. 

In fourteen years together it's only gotten better. He only wants her more. He is inside of her, she feels everything. He's touching her everywhere. Her nails dig into his back, his fingers find that place on that makes her scream. 

If there is a heaven it's right here in this very moment. When finished they fall asleep wrapped in each other's arms. He mutters ”I love you Hermione”, before falling into a comfortable dreamless sleep.

************

Severus gripped Hermione’s hand tightly. The game was against Slytherin. Alan was grumpy, well more like brooding and moody. He couldn't help but think to himself surely wasn't this bad as a teenager?

His son grumbled at the fact that they were going to sit in the Gryffindor stands. Severus wasn't pleased with the idea either. But, they were here to support Rose, not the Slytherins. He rested his hand on Alan’s shoulder ”we are going to take you and your sister out to dinner afterward, so it would be a good idea to stick together. We are having a family meeting”.

Alan stared up at him with sharp black eyes, like he was considering snarling, but did not ”it’s about my letter to you, isn't it”.

Severus nodded and said ”we as your parents still love and support you. As I am sure your sister will as well. I would not be shocked if she already knows without us even telling her, if she's anything like your guy’s mother.” Hermione nodded at them, listening but letting them talk by themselves. 

Severus really looked at his son, his hair was greasy, he, after all, had been avoiding showers as much as he could. His skin had a pallor from spending next to no time in the sun. His large eyes were bright, he did inherit the Snape nose, but it had never been broken, so it just looked a typical Roman nose.

Sometimes he wished his son would have taken after his mother more. When he made such comments to her, she smacked him upside the head. Their son was beautiful, Severus himself was handsome and she would not hear anymore of it. Her son was perfect the way he was. Just as their daughter. 

They climbed into the stands and sat down. Ron Weasley called out ”why are you on this side surely shouldn't you be supporting your former house and house?”

Severus turned to face the man and said ”here to support my daughter and make sure yours doesn't knock off her own teammate off her broom. And my son is here to support his sister”. His scarf was blowing in the wind and hiding his scowling face. 

Hermione grabbed his hand in hers, holding it like a vice ”he’s not worth it”.

Ron added ”Snape are you your wife’s dog? Here Severus, down Severus, sit Severus.” 

Lavender muttered ”shut it, Ron, and just enjoy the game.”

Ron laughed ”it's not like they are even married.”

Harry turned to his friend ”you told Willow to try and hurt Rose didn't you?”

Alan simply read his book ignoring what was around him, Merlin he wished that he would have just sat with Al and Scorpius.

Hermione told Ron ”leave my daughter and Severus out of your issues with me!”

Minerva snapped ”none of you are school children, stop acting worse than them and just enjoy the game. Beyond that, Mr. Weasley your daughter is spending every Hogsmeade weekend for the next three months with Flitch. If she continues with that type of behavior as she has been warned she will not see the village again until next year. I dare you both to test me on that one.”

Ron muttered to himself about needing to punish the real enemy and watched the game. 

Severus was never happy before Rose started to play Quidditch to watch Slytherin loose, his and Minerva’s bet attested to that, but today he sat there smiling after Rose caught the snitch. She had done a daring dive nearly hitting the ground as she did so, which caused her mother to cling to him like the world was about to end. 

At the last second, she pulled up snitch in hand. Minerva laughed ”I think she's evening more daring than you Harry and that's saying something.”

Ginny added,” if she keeps this up, she could go pro.”

Severus like the proud father he was ”she has to finish school before we even start to talk about such things.”

*************

They sat as a family in the three broom sticks, having permission from Minerva to do so. No one was really touching their food. The wait of unspoken words like wool blankets weighing them down. Alan had insisted that he wanted to sit next to his mother, Severus sat on her other side, and Rose in front of them.

Alan simply spit it out taking some of his mother’s courage he sometimes seemed to lack, ”Rose I am gay”.

Rose having the gentle soul, the none-judging heart and her love for her brother said:” Alan I already know, I have known since we were kids. I guessed when you were about seven. When other boys showed interest in girls, you were my tail or said nothing. And if you're worried about Scorpius he recently told a friend of mine he's not interested in her. I think he may be gay as well ”. 

Alan let out the breath he had been holding and started to cry tears of joy. Rose stood taking her twin brother into her arms. She to him ”Alan we are twins, we have been together since before we were even born. Did you really think who you like would ruin it? But, I will say if you want to win his heart you better get better about taking care of yourself. And if what is keeping you from showering is your dorm mates, well if they have anything to say about it they have to go through me. Go it? Scor will likely be happy to hear this and Al is the nonjudgemental type. And if Nott has anything to say, when then he's got a stinging hex I just learned with his name on it. Ginny taught me it.”

Of course, Ginny Potter would teach her a hex to protect her brother or even use on those who might dare to hurt him. The woman saw a lot of herself in the girl with the wild hair and calculating brown eyes.

Rose laughed ”now that's out of the way I think I might like James Potter”. Severus couldn't help but groan at that one. Of course, his daughter liked a Potter boy and not even the Slytherin one.

Hermione couldn’t help herself but laugh. “Sev he’s no more his grandfather than you are your father. And James has gotten better as he’s gotten older. Harry keeps a tight rein on him that the Potter grandparents did not keep on James Sr.”

Severus hoped she was correct, for the sake of his sanity and his daughter’s honor.

************ 

Severus and Harry stood next to each other a few days before Christmas. They were equals in this place both fathers of children, both grown men, and both considering if it was worth the embarrassment to show off their poor dance skills by dancing with their wives.

They watched their children dance. James with Rose, Alan with Scorpius, and Al with a slightly awkward Alice Longbottom. Harry said ”They seem so happy.”

Severus said, ”they have had the childhood’s neither of us had. This is the whole reason why we did what we did, so they could be happy, so they would not be forced to choose a side, and all they have to worry about is ordinary teenage drama.”

The once boy who lived said,” are you truly happy Severus?”

The former potion’s professor said,” I am happier than I ever dreamed was possible for me.”

Harry said ”do you think you will ever marry her? I am not asking because I think you should, but because I am just curious.”

Sev muttered ”when they change the law and allow my son to marry if he ever chooses to. I hope that their distaste of our choice not to marry will push the issue.”

Harry said,” how is Draco taking it? I know that heirs are a big deal to them, as a family in general.”

Severus said ”he’s a father like we are and his only goal is for his son to be happy. And on the subject of heirs, well the solution to the issue of heirs is a pet project of mine.”

Ginny tapped Harry on the shoulder it seems that she wanted to dance after all. He said,” in a few minutes, love. Severus and I are enjoying a conversation.”

She nodded and then went to Luna, Hermione, and Hannah over at the table they were sitting at.

Harry asked him blankly ”are you ever going to tell anyone how you survived that night? It's been over twenty years now.”

Severus spit out the bit of wine he swallowed in shock ”that is an odd question to ask someone.”

Harry laughed ”well I am not known for my people skills, you don't have to answer the question if you don't want to.”

Severus laughed ”Kreacher and that's all I will say. Nothing more nothing less.”

The younger of the two laughed ”something about master Regulus and what he would have wanted? He was my house-elf before he passed away.”

Severus simply smirked and nodded. Then added ”mind watching the children tonight? I can do it next week after Christmas in return. If you not the charms to stop certain things, that is.”

Harry laughed ”Mrs. Weasley taught them to me after James was born, we would as a family be happy to give you and Hermione some time alone.” 

Harry went off to give in to Ginny about dancing. Severus went to go tell his wife the good news, that their house would be empty tonight. 

**************

Hermione tied her husband’s hands to their headboard. He was naked, and watched her as she did so. His black eyes taking in her curves, the swell of her breasts, her soft stomach, her Mischievous brown eyes, her curls that were falling in her face, he wanted to tease her rose colored nipples with either his fingers or lips, but he could not, and that was the whole point.

She had total control of him, and it thrilled her to her very core. Their sex life had never cooled off, in all the years together. But she was adventurous, and he was curious of how it would make him feel to allow her to have her wicked way with him.

She teased him, holding him in her small hand. He couldn’t help but ark into her touch. Hermione laughs lightly to him “Mr. In Control Of Himself are you having issues with that? She cocked her head to the side.

Through clenched teeth, Severus moans and says ”stop teasing me witch”.

Hermione can't help herself she giggles ”why should I Sev? When I enjoy it so much?”

He non verbally removes the silk tie from his wrists, pulling her to him by her hips and sinking her on his cock. His hands just rest on her hips or he touches her anywhere he can as he takes her. 

And take him she does. She uses her husband for her own pleasure. She's never been one to take it upon herself to bring it to her. But, that was the whole point of this, her exploring part of herself that she rarely ever did. 

He finishes before her, and then he gets her off with his fingers and lips. Enjoying the very taste that was just her. They kiss and then curl up together just as they try to do every single night.

Hermione says to him her voice tired ”I am guessing your not that into being tied up?”

Severus laughs ”its quite fun when you're a wizard, but I do not think I have an interest in trying ones I cannot remove, but I did enjoy this. But I do enjoy watching and having you take control. We can try something else another time if you prefer.”

Hermione mumbles ”I want to do this again and try other things.”

He says ”and I would love both because it will be with you. I love you, Hermione, most of all.”

She says into his chest as she curls into him ”and I love you Sev.”

***************

It’s the last time they will send the twins off to Hogwarts. The last time they will wake and make a mad dash to King’s cross station and Severus is savoring every single second of it. Salazar is struggling to wake up now, his age showing. Alan knows soon it will be time to say goodbye to his beloved dog and his dad as much as he doesn't want to admit it, will miss said brown creature.

He will miss the begging for food at every dinner, something always underfoot, the joy the dog has over simple things. Growing up and growing old is hard. 

Alan is a handsome young man, his features are sharp. His eyes black as night, his skin as pale as pale could be. He's tall easily six feet and likely over it. He wants to be a potion’s master like his dad is. They have been working on Sev’s pet project together, father and son. It is for Alan after all, and hopefully, it will give him and Scorpius the chance to have biological children together. 

They had made strides in it over the last year, figuring out how to help a pregnancy be carried by a man with magic. It will take at least another few years, but they have time, Alan isn't even considering using it for at least another four years. 

Rose Eileen is as beautiful as her mother is, her skin pale like her namesake, her grandmother. Severus can't help but wonder what his own mother would think of his children, and the happy lives they have. He thinks she would like Hermione. Her spirit, her spark, and her intelligence. Rose’s hair is calmer now that she spends the time to take care of it. It's still wild curls. Her eyes are that of someone who knows who she wants to be. 

Her and James may marry in a few years, they have only grown closer as the year's pass. Severus has grown to like the boy, who loves his daughter. He wants to be an Aurror like his father and is in training to be one. Rose does not want to play Quidditch for the rest of her life or even go pro. She's far too interested in magical creatures for that. 

She wants to work with those who are the ”voiceless” as she sometimes puts it, but mostly she wants to advocate for those like her brother first. She wants to change the wizarding world. She wants to make it better, just as her mother did before her and still does. 

She may never work with magical creatures, her goal is first to help change the laws on gay marriage, then she wants to advocate for squib's the most neglected and abused of their kind. She also has mentioned helping women like her grandmother Eileen, and children like her own father. And even Harry Potter, the boy who lived under the stairs. 

Severus thinks the wizarding world will not know what hit them when it comes to Rose Eileen Granger Snape. They better watch out, because she's hell-bent on bringing them into the modern world. In if they try and stop her? Well, that will give her just another reason to keep fighting on. 

Severus wishes he was half as good of a person as his children. The newest head boy the first in many years who was a Slytherin, and the prefect who could at times put even James Potter to shame in the ability to just skirt by own the rules, or better yet Harry, Ron and Hermione. But, Hermione Jean Granger loves him as he is. Her hand clings to his as they wave goodbye to their children as the Hogwarts Express pulls out of the station. This is what love is. Not a piece of paper, not anything else. This feeling that's bubbling inside of him that makes him want to cry.

He never felt something this strong before. Not for Lily Evans, not for Albus, his mother that's the only comparable to what he feels at this very moment. The love of his children, his wife and the life they have together.

Hermione clutched his hand tighter and says ”I love you, Severus Tobias Snape. I love our children and the life we have made together.”

He kisses her wild hair and says ”And I love you, Hermione Jean Granger. I love our children and our life. I don't know who I would be today if you didn't call out my name on that cold and rainy night. I don't know who I would be today if you didn't visit me and convince me to go to that bar. I don't know who I would be today if I never let go of that necklace and letter that had once been Lily’s. I don't know who I would be today if we didn't forget to use that spell. I don't want to know who I would be, Hermione. Because he's the kind of man I wouldn't want to be my friend, to see on the street or even speak to. You didn't force me to be someone I am not. You let me grow into the man I am today. And I am better for it.”

All Hermione says is ”that man was always inside of you. I just sat by and supported you as you became him. Just as you did with me, as I went from being the little know it all to who I am today. We are better together than we are apart, but we are both people who can stand on their own two feet.”

They were going out to lunch with Astoria and Draco, and tomorrow they would have dinner with Ginny and Harry. He might give Minerva a fire call tonight to check up on her, she was getting up there in age.

To wherever house-elves go after they pass away Severus sent a thank you to Kreacher a thank you that the old grumpy house-elf thought he was worth saving, back all he wanted to do was die in that shack alone. Back before he realized what life was waiting for him on the other side of his depression and mental illness. 

Severus and Hermione had PTSD, just as most of their generations did. They took their daily potions, had their rescue medication for when it got really bad and saw a mind healer as needed, they both were doing the best they could and that was okay. 

They walked hand in hand off the platform, back through the fake wall and into the sunshine. This is what love is supposed to be and if their son couldn't get married and couldn't have that piece of paper? Then they were going to show the world they did not need it either. Mr Snape and Ms Granger were quite happy with things just as they were. 

Maybe one day, when Alan and all like him could marry they would, but for now it was a happy day just the way it was. 


End file.
